About this title: An American woman whose son has just died and an Irishwoman whose husband leaves her trade houses for a year. A Publishers Weekly best-seller for 27 weeks.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 03/1999
ISBN-13:9780385333955ISBN:0385333951
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 03/1999
ISBN-13:9780385333955ISBN:0385333951
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 03/1999
ISBN-13:9780385333955ISBN:0385333951
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 03/1999
ISBN-13:9780385333955ISBN:0385333951
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 03/1999
ISBN-13:9780385333955ISBN:0385333951
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 09/1999
ISBN-13:9780385335126ISBN:0385335121
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 09/1999
ISBN-13:9780385335126ISBN:0385335121
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 09/1999
ISBN-13:9780385335126ISBN:0385335121
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 09/1999
ISBN-13:9780385335126ISBN:0385335121
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 09/1999
ISBN-13:9780385335126ISBN:0385335121
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 09/1999
ISBN-13:9780385335126ISBN:0385335121
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 09/1999
ISBN-13:9780385335126ISBN:0385335121
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 09/1999
ISBN-13:9780385335126ISBN:0385335121
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 09/1999
ISBN-13:9780385335126ISBN:0385335121
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 03/1999
ISBN-13:9780385333955ISBN:0385333951
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 03/1999
ISBN-13:9780385333955ISBN:0385333951
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Good, In good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. Previous Owner's Inscription. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 03/1999
ISBN-13:9780385333955ISBN:0385333951
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: 03/1999
ISBN-13:9780385333955ISBN:0385333951
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 512 p. read more
"Having enjoyed many of the Oprah picks (even though I am not particularly an Oprah fan), I was very disappointed. I don't know what I expected, but halfway through the story I started to lose interest. The plot was somewhate unique, but the details were not believable--really she didn't know her husband was sleeping around for years and years, even though there were a hundred signals? Not to offend anyone that has been the victim of infidelity--I am sure it could happen--but not in this way. And the exhusband/twentysomething relationship was just ridiculous. Maybe if I had cared about the characters it would have been okay."
This was my first Maeve Binchy book and I moderately enjoyed it. The setting was Dublin, Ireland, which was beautifully described. Ria and her husband fall in love with the house of their dreams. Miraculously they are able to find the way to afford it, move in, and start a family. Just as Ria thinks everything is coming together, her husband drops a bomb shell on her; he is leaving her. In response to this, Ria decides to take up the suggestion by a woman in America to trade homes for the summer. What will this trade do for the lives of these two women?
I enjoyed the description of the country of Ireland and the careful details of the house on Tara Road. The audiobook version was narrated by a woman with a convincing accent. Although this is a romance technically, it is really about the breakdown of a romance.
While I initially enjoyed the story, I had several problems with it. I feel that only some of the characters were well developed while others were sort of left as incomplete shadows. I had a deep understanding of Ria and really connected with her - although I have had none of her experiences. At the opposite extreme, I could not connect at all with the woman that she trades houses with. I felt that all of a sudden this woman was thrust on the reader without any background story and she was expected to be a large part of the story. Upon the house switching storyline (about halfway through) I lost interest in the book.
I don't seem to be having much luck in the romance genre, I'm not sure if I will read another one any time soon. I would recommend the audiobook to anyone wanting to read this as I think I would have lost interest much quicker if it was a printed copy.
"This was my first Maeve Binchy and it will not be my last. The story starts with Ria, living in Dublin and married to the charismatic Danny Linch. She believes nothing could be better about her life except to have a third child until the time comes to discuss this possibility with her happily married husband. Only to discover he is having a third child with another woman! Ria's life is turned inside out and upside down and so are the lives of her young son Brian and 15 year old Annie. Just when things look the worse for Ria she receives a phone call from Marilyn Vine in the US asking if she knows of any houses available for a month or two in the summer. Ria and Marilyn exchange houses and a little bit of their lives for the two months in the summer and Marilyn finds solace and comfort and finally is able to come to terms with the death of her 15 year old son in Ria's home and amongst Ria's friends. Ria, on the other hand, finds herself and branches out and learns many things about herself and finds a strength and resolve to move on without Danny."
"The first part of "Tara Road", which is a bit slow, tells the story of Ria Lynch, her marriage to Danny Lynch, and her life with him and their two children as they buy a house and renovate it on Tara Road. It also tells the stories of Ria's friends, especially Rosemary Ryan, not quite the friend she appears to be; Gertie, a battered wife who is so used to living a lie that she actually believes it; and Colm, who is struggling to run a restaurant while dealing with his sister's problems.
"Tara Road" picks up pace in the second part, when Ria's life takes an unexpected turn, and she switches houses with Marilyn Vine, an American, who is dealing (not very well) with a tragedy in her life. While the reader knows all about Ria's life (more, in fact than she does), the reader discovers Marilyn's story at the same time as Ria does. In the end, Ria's stay in Connecticut and Marilyn's stay on Tara Road, change them both in ways they never imagined.
Although a bit too long (the first part drags at times), this was an enjoyable read and towards the end, I couldn't put it down. As always, Binchey fills the book with memorable characters, some of whom you'll like, others would will dislike quite a bit. I highly recommend "Tara Road"."
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